Alvarez homered twice and drove in four runs after Harrison barreled into St. Louis catcher Jadier Molina and the Pirates rolled to a 9-0 victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday night.
While Alvarez crushed his 24th and 25th home runs of the season, it was Harrison's violent collision at home plate with Molina in the second inning that sent the message the struggling Pirates aren't quite finished just yet.
Harrison broke from second on Jose Tabata's single to right with two outs and dashed for the plate. By the time he got there, Molina had the ball in his hands. The second baseman lowered his left shoulder and plowed into the catcher's head. Molina somehow held onto the ball to end the inning.
It also ended his night.
Molina got up slowly and went to the clubhouse with neck, back and shoulder injuries and was replaced by Tony Cruz. Watching Molina walk off the field was difficult, but Harrison insisted he had no choice. Molina, who complained of a headache afterward, doesn't believe the hit was malicious.
The play seemed to energize the Pirates, who snapped out of a weeklong funk and drew within two games of St. Louis for the NL's second wild-card spot. Having the streaky Alvarez heating up once again certainly helped. The third baseman hit a two-run homer in the third to give the Pirates a comfortable lead, added an RBI double in the fourth then hit a 469-foot blast to center in the sixth.
It was more than enough offense for James McDonald (12-6), who gave up two hits in seven efficient innings, walking one and striking out six to beat the Cardinals and Jake Westbrook (13-10) for the second time in the last two weeks.
Using his curveball to keep the surging Cardinals off balance, McDonald looked like the pitcher that was one of baseball's biggest surprises during the first half of the year, not the one that has stumbled at times over the last six weeks.
McDonald had little trouble against the Cardinals' surging lineup, surrendering only a two-out single to Molina in the second and a two-out double to Jon Jay in the sixth. Other than that he was flawless, allowing Pittsburgh's weary bullpen to get a needed break.
Playing with a cushion for once didn't hurt. The Pirates came in losers in six of their last seven since a dramatic 19-inning victory in St. Louis on Aug. 19, forced to play catch-up most nights while the starting pitching faltered.
This time, the Pirates jumped out early.
Garrett Jones hit a sacrifice fly to give Pittsburgh the lead and the Pirates continued to build. Alvarez hit a two-run shot to the notch in left-center to make it 3-0 in the third and got things started in the fifth with an RBI double to score Andrew McCutchen.
McKenry added a run-scoring single to make it 5-0. Westbrook exacted a little payback by drilling Harrison in the leg with a fastball, drawing a warning to both dugouts from home plate umpire Adrian Johnson.
Harrison took no offense at pitch, calling it ''a part of the game.'' He didn't stay at first for long anyway. Clint Barmes followed the plunking with a two-run single the Pirates were up 7-0.
That was more than enough for McDonald. The Cardinals failed to get a runner to third while McDonald was in the game while getting shut out for the second time this month and the seventh time this season.
Westbrook has been a key part of the Cardinals' rise during the second half, winning six of his previous seven decisions. He could do little right on a night the Pirates snapped out of their swoon in a big way.
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